Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and other dangerous sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) conditions affect thousands worldwide. Numerous techniques have emerged for the treating SDB, including, for example, the use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices, which continuously provide pressurized air or other breathable gas to the entrance of a patient's airways via a patient interface (e.g. a mask) at a pressure elevated above atmospheric pressure, typically in the range 3-20 cm H2O. Typically, patients suspected of suffering from an SDB register with a certified sleep laboratory where sleep technicians fit patients with numerous data collectors and monitor their sleep activity over a given period. If a diagnosis of SDB is, the patient is referred to a provider of products used in the treatment for SDB. These providers typically are referred to as durable medical equipment (DME) and/or home medical equipment (HME) providers.
There are many processes associated with the dispensing of products used in the treatment of SDB. For example, set-up forms, rental and loaner agreements and other documents are created; patient notes, including device settings are created; follow-up reminders used for compliance and supplies replacement are created; etc. Conventionally, these processes rely on hand-writing and transcribing. For example, although the provider keeps track of, for example, their inventory (e.g. how many CPAP devices are in stock, how many are on loan and/or rented, etc.), which patients receive which treatment device, timely patient follow-ups (e.g. for routine monitoring of treatment progress, maintenance for devices, etc.), and the like, they often do so in whole or in part by hand. Where computerized systems are involved, they too require manual entry of numerous parameters.
Thus, numerous problems are inherent in these processes for dispensing products and tracking both products and patients. For example, providers risk running out of stock of particular devices. Without adequate and accurate records, providers also may risk losing rental and loaner units. When loaned and/or rented devices are returned, improper recordation may erroneously report that they are still outstanding, missing, etc.
Multiple types of inventories create further problems. For example, a provider may need to track whether it is dispensing a device that is, for example, new, used, rental, loaner, donated, etc. The varied types of devices and the various different reporting requirements associated therewith add a further level of complication to the system. These and other problems may be compounded by the ease with which serial numbers and/or other identifying information may be transposed. Thus, even when theoretically adequate and accurate records are kept, innocent human error could lead to these and other problems. For example, patients may be issued the incorrect device, etc.
Similar problems exist with regard to tracking patients. For example, most providers typically know when devices are issued when follow-ups will be required. However, many conventional systems, for example, do not track such information and do not generate reminders. As another example, routine patient notes and forms, including set-up forms, rental agreements, loaner agreements, etc., the contents of which are standard, must be created by hand. As a result, considerable time, effort, and money may be wasted.
Some SDB product manufacturers have implemented barcode technology to quickly and accurately track products by serial and lot numbers by default because they ship their products through commercial carriers, such as, for example, Federal Express, UPS, etc. However, these conventional systems typically use proprietary concatenated barcodes. These barcodes are not industry-standard barcodes and therefore require additional hardware and/or software power, for example, to parse and further manipulate incoming data. These systems typically are not integrated with patient management information.
Typically, providers have implemented patient management billing systems. Many of these systems include an inventory module as well. However, these systems typically are of a generic nature and do not accommodate the unique aspects of managing patients, product and inventory associated with SDB. For example, depending upon their use, SDB products may be placed in one of several inventory designations (e.g., “New”, “Used”, “Loaner”, etc.). However, generic billing systems usually cannot support more than one inventory location. In addition, generic systems cannot support the automatic generation of SDB-related forms, patient notes, reminders, etc.
Furthermore, these provider systems typically are tied to wired barcode readers that restrict, for example, their ease of use, places of implementation, etc. Although wireless barcode readers are used, for example, in conjunction with commercial shipping operations, their implementation is unknown in the field of dispensing medical products related to SDB. Moreover, conventional wireless barcode reader systems require expensive, bulky, proprietary equipment that interfaces with proprietary wireless transmitters.
Thus, a need has developed in the art to overcome one or more of these and other disadvantages.